Bethany, a mother of two from Bogalusa, is one of them: her third baby is due on April 4, and Medicaid will cover the whole cost of delivery. Cutting the programme would be a “huge step back for all of us”, she says. “Times are hard — we can’t afford it ourselves right now.”

Bethany, who declined to give her surname because she does not want to publicise her political views, voted for Trump in November. But she says she is surprised at all the talk about curtailing a programme that has become indispensable to her and her family.

EJ Kuiper, chief executive of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (FMOLHS), which runs the Bogalusa hospital, says more than 40 hospitals in Louisiana are at risk of closing if Medicaid funding is reduced.